HORRORHOUND FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW: ESCALATION (2021)
Here at Macabre Daily, we are big supporters of independent horror. We love the BLUMHOUSE films as much as the newest franchise reboot, but if you want to reinvigorate that sense of discovery that hooks so many horror fans look no further than independent horror. And the most fertile grounds for discovering great indie horror are horror conventions. While we attended HorrorHound Weekend just a couple of weeks ago we were able to watch a few short films and meet a few of the filmmakers taking part in the HorrorHound Film Festival. This year friends of the site FREDHEADS: THE DOCUMENTARY had their worldwide premiere at HorrorFound and also shared the stage with a handful of other filmmakers selected to showcase their stories at the festival. One such filmmaker is CHRISTIAN BACHINI who was showing his horror-short ESCALATION. Christian was kind enough to share a copy of his film with us since we missed the screening, and let’s just say we are so glad he did!
ESCALATION is a 16-minute short that feels like a shot of horror meth from start to finish. This high-energy story is best described as what would happen if a Patrick Bateman-esque narcissistic sociopath had his apartment taken over like Raimi’s THE EVIL DEAD. While we won’t go into details on the specifics of what happens throughout, what we can say is this film packs a lot of punch for clocking in at under 20 minutes. The dark and crimson lighting makes the apartment scenery feel dirty and sleek, and the quick cut edits and sound-mixing make for a disorienting and tense A/V experience.
This is essentially a one-actor show, with writer/director/producer/DP CHRISTIAN BACHINI taking the brunt of the punishment. From the first second you don’t like this character, and while there isn’t much context around why this is going on it matters little once the proverbial shit hits the fan. On a technical level ESCALATION is impressive in every regard. It clearly draws technical inspiration from Raimi’s pivotal film as much as it does content. While Evil Dead clones are a dime a dozen this feels more akin to a homage rather than an interpretation both in tone and technical quality.
ESCALATION is a reminder that great horror is out there as long as you look for it. The future of the genre is in the very capable hands and hearts of some truly talented filmmakers, and it is our duty here at Macabre Daily to make sure we celebrate and share greatness when we see it. Suffice it to say ESCALATION gets our Macabre Seal of Approval!
THE GORY DETAILS
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Where can you watch it?
ESCALATION is making its way through various film festivals across the world and has won 43 awards so far! Some of the Major Festivals where ESCALATION already played :
Monster Fest (Australia)
Filmquest (US)
Buried Alive Film Festival (US)
International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival / Phoenix Film Festival (US)
Days of The Dead Indianapolis (US)
Houston Horror Film Festival (US)
Midsummer Scream (US)
Galacticat (Spain)
Ravenheart International Film Festival (Norway)
HorrorHound Film Festival (US)
Upcoming Festivals you can catch ESCALATION:
Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival (US)
New York Shorts International Film Festivals (US)
Bolton International Film Festival (UK)
Razor Reels (Belgium)
Upcoming Horror Festivals You can catch ESCALATION:
Feratum International Fantastic Film Festival (Mexico)
LUSCA Film Festival (Puerto Rico)
HorrorFest (US)
Ethereal Film Festival
Milwaukee Twisted Dreams
Macabre Faire
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